"On the Road Again" (for the first time)

Larry & Nancy Solheim

Guest

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<font color="#000080">As part of a serious lifestyle change, Nancy & I are selling our half of the shop, selling the house and most possessions, selling "MetalBeast" (newly& fully restored Blue '64 - due to be [finally] completedbymid-June), purchasing a used motorhome &visitsun-sparkling lakes across the countryfor a year. </font>
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<font color="#000080">Our initial plan was to put "Amphi" ( '66 White) on a car trailer behind the motorhome, but that adds some complexity, ie: space in parks, what to do w/ the trailer when swimming or at the store, etc). Has anyone looked into rear hub & axle modifications for the installation of locking hubs, as in typical 4WD front ends? I really don't want to stress that transmission w/ many thousands of miles. </font>
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<font color="#000080">Thanks,</font>
<font color="#000080"> --Larry & Nancy</font>

T

TOMMYS2TOYS@cs.com

Guest

--Back in the 70's I was drag racing a 55 Chevy. I made some towing
hubs from a Rambler front hub. You would un-bolt the wheel, bolt on
the modifed hub & different wheel. ,put the emergency brake on & tow
it with just the hub turning, worked great! Good luck in your
adventures!! TOM In amphicar-lovers@y..., "Larry & Nancy Solheim"
<amphi@c...> wrote:
> As part of a serious lifestyle change, Nancy & I are selling our
half of the shop, selling the house and most possessions,
selling "MetalBeast" (newly & fully restored Blue '64 - due to be
[finally] completed by mid-June), purchasing a used motorhome & visit
sun-sparkling lakes across the country for a year.
>
> Our initial plan was to put "Amphi" ( '66 White) on a car trailer
behind the motorhome, but that adds some complexity, ie: space in
parks, what to do w/ the trailer when swimming or at the store,
etc). Has anyone looked into rear hub & axle modifications for the
installation of locking hubs, as in typical 4WD front ends? I really
don't want to stress that transmission w/ many thousands of miles.
>
> Thanks,
> --Larry & Nancy

K

Karl Vacek

Guest

> --Back in the 70's I was drag racing a 55 Chevy. I made some towing
> hubs from a Rambler front hub. You would un-bolt the wheel, bolt on
> the modifed hub & different wheel. ,put the emergency brake on & tow
> it with just the hub turning, worked great!

Please be aware that when you bolt an extension onto a hub and the net
result is that the tire contact patch moves outward, you are placing
additional strain on the hub and some of the suspension. Think of
leverage - a longer wrench applies more torque for the same force applied to
its end. Same thing here. Even additional positive wheel offsets can have
some dangerous effects on marginal-strength hubs and suspension components.

With a Rambler, you may have had no problem - heavy, overbuilt components.
But with an Amphicar you have mostly components built for this very car and
NOT overbuilt to any great extent. Adding an additional hub pushes the
wheels out a few inches and applies a great deal more torque to the hubs
than they were designed for. It could even overstress, bend, or break the
suspension arms.